Drabbles And Ficlets From The 'How Soul Mates Are Found' Universe
by SuperMegaFoxyAwesomeHot2001
Summary: These are mini-chapters and stories from the How Soul Mates Are Found universe! Ideas that I've had, plot lines I never wrote in the original, character sketches, and other head canons. Feel free to give me any suggestions you may have. I don't own any images. SO FAR: 1. CROOKSHANKS' TALE, 2. JUMP ON THE KNIGHT BUS, 3.WITHOUT THE EPIPHANY,4.JILY FLUFF. Full contents on my profile.
1. Crookshanks' Tale

**DRABBLES AND ONE-SHOTS FROM THE _How Soul Mates Are Found_ UNIVERSE**

 **A/N:** **Think of How Soul Mates Are Found as a film and this as deleted scenes and extras. It's mostly me being silly and having some fun with it – so I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea. I don't usually have more than one story going at once but this is simply casual – no update schedule, plan or anything! Absolute chaos!**

 **Please note: You may not understand some of what is going on if you haven't read How Soul Mates Are Found.**

 **Please also note: This is rated 'M' for language and sex references.**

 **Please feel free to give me any suggestions you may have!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to ElsaElphieGinny - Happy Birthday! She is an awesome writer, I really recommend her stories so please go and have a look!**

 **As always, I own nothing. J K Rowling is amazing and she owns Harry Potter. Also, I don't own the image of Crookshanks.**

 **Thank you for your continued support, have a lovely day and enjoy!**

* * *

CROOKSHANKS' TALE

* * *

The box shook violently – he didn't take too kindly to be imprisoned like a common house cat. Memories of another time he'd been in a box not unlike this one flooded his mind – the cottage had smelt of flowers and had the sort of clean smell that came from washing, nothing like the streets at all. He remembered Lily being pregnant and how Sirius had found him in Diagon Alley – he'd said that having a cat would cheer Lily up. It was clear from the start that Lily was often sad but she seemed to be good-natured, it was an instinct of his to trust her. It had turned out to be a good instinct, he recollected many fond memories of that cottage – sleeping by the fire, chasing James up the stairs, being chased by the smallest one and best of all, coming and going as he pleased.

He'd found Godric's Hollow to be a pleasant place full of mice to chase and fences to balance on and people to steal high quality food off of. However, not all of his memories of Godric's Hollow were quite as positive – he remembered seeing the green light from a few streets away, running to the wreckage, the half-giant with the motorbike that belonged to Sirius… It was a shame how everything had happened the way it had.

He'd been following the twitchy man for weeks before, and not only because he smelled of rat. However, the twitchy man had been unusually good at covering his tracks, as if he somehow knew he was being watched. Still, he was no ordinary cat. He was, after all, half-Kneazle. He knew suspicious characters when he saw them and that rat-man's behaviour had certainly been odd. In fact, he'd often heard Lily or James remark upon it yet they seemed to trust him so completely. So he'd let it lie for a while… until he'd seen the jittery man come into the cottage ruins and take that dark wizard's wand – that had cemented his suspicions. There was no doubt about it, rat-man was a traitor. So he'd tracked him down, with no home to go to, what else could he do? He couldn't know for sure, of course, but it seemed as though his halcyon days in Godric's Hollow with a loving family were over.

He'd been right on rat-man's tail (quite literally) having followed him all the way to Diagon Alley until a boy with flaming red hair, freckles all over his face and horn-rimmed glasses had found that rat and taken him away. "Scabbers" was the name he'd heard and he'd be damned before he forgot that name or the way that treacherous creature's nose twitched in something between smug relief and nervous confusion. He'd find that rat if it was the last thing he did. He'd followed the flaming haired boy for what felt like hours but soon he lost sight of him in the busy crowds and at that point, the sweet smell of fish seemed ever so slightly more appealing. When his resolve and purpose returned, he'd found the boy with the rat outside the apothecary but soon his vision was obscured by a cardboard box and a voice dripping with condescension seemed to poison his ears. He'd been unceremoniously escorted into a place that shrieked with noise and stank of fur and droppings.

The screeches of other animals – he recognised the humming of the Puffskeins and the scurrying of the rats- were slightly off-putting. All he knew was that he had to get out.

The cardboard box started to unfold and he got a view of a woman and bright light flowing in from outside. Dammit, he was in the Magical Menagerie. As if his luck could be any worse. He knew lurking in Diagon Alley had been a bad idea but he knew Tom from the Leaky Cauldron would feed him scraps if he sat outside and mewed for long enough.

He would just have to wait. He would bide his time, wait for his opportunity and then he would track rat-man down.


	2. Jump On The Knight Bus

**A/N:** **Hello.**

 **I missed these two so I wrote something - it's rudimentary and undeveloped but I had this idea in my head for a while - except How Soul Mates Are Found is written exclusively in James', Lily's and Severus' point of views so I couldn't put it there. So tah-dah. This is Marlene and Sirius' first "date".**

 **As you may remember (or not), when Lily was in the hospital wing, Alice said Sirius and Marlene should jump on the Knight Bus and go out so... That's the meaning behind the title.**

 **Anyway, enjoy and have a lovely day!**

* * *

JUMP ON THE KNIGHT BUS

* * *

"Well this is fancy," Marlene remarked, smirking.

"Oh shut up."

When Sirius had said that he was taking her out to dinner, she hadn't known what to expect. She knew how it was between them, he'd made that painfully clear, yet here she was, dressed up, made up and a quivering wreck inside.

She'd spent hours trying to find the right dress – but none of them had really seemed appropriate. As much as Marlene didn't want to get her hopes up, she still, stupidly, thought that this might be a date. Did that mean that Sirius, the man who never kept a girl for more than a week, wanted to be something serious? Not that it bothered her, of course, not that it really _mattered_ exactly… but if it did mean that, then she wanted to look like someone you'd take seriously. In the end, she's taken Lily's advice and worn the blue dress – it would bring out her eyes. At least Lily was being helpful, unlike Alice who was being absolutely unbearable about the whole affair.

She hadn't wanted to tell anyone about it, in case she was wrong and Sirius didn't want to be in a relationship or anything – she'd look a bit foolish if that happened and also, Marlene didn't think she could bear the knowing looks, the teasing, urgh – it was insufferable to even think about. Somehow, Lily had managed to get it out of her. It was a relief in a way; at least she had someone to offload all her apprehension onto. However, telling Lily had clearly meant telling Alice as well. Alice would simply not shut up about it - as though this maybe-date was a big deal anyway. It wasn't. No, Marlene thought, it's not a big deal at all.

So why was she so nervous?

Glancing at Sirius, as discreetly as she could, she saw that he didn't look too confident either. He was trying to hide it though, but she could tell. She could always tell.

He ordered drinks with cool indifference but he was tense and avoiding eye contact.

"You clean up nice," she said, to break the silence.

He grinned, his shoulders relaxing and he turned to meet her gaze.

"You too."

"So… why are we ordering overpriced drinks in a restaurant that clearly hasn't had any customers since the Stone Age?"

She looked around, the place was pretty bare and cold and for the most part, empty.

"Well… I wanted some privacy," he began, then paused, as though considering how to word his reply.

He'd practiced this a thousand times in front of the mirror, a thousand different combinations of the same speech. James had laughed and so had Remus – and he supposed it was funny. Here he was, after swearing never to commit to something even vaguely resembling a romantic relationship, fumbling over his words like a first year asking a girl he liked on a date.

It's just… there was something about Marlene that he couldn't get out of his head. She was gorgeous, everyone said so, but, no matter how hard he'd tried to convince himself otherwise, it was more than that. It was more than the way she looked, more than the way she kissed – more than any of that. Whether he liked it or not, he saw Marlene differently. He didn't know why or how it had happened; only that it had. And now that it had, he'd be an idiot to let her go, let her slip away from him now.

He wouldn't go as far as love, but it was certainly more than warm tolerance. She was worth more than that. She deserved more than that.

"Marlene, we've known each other a while, haven't we?"

"Yes."

"And… oh Merlin, I'm bad at this. I'm not good at these kinds of speeches – and I've watched about a million rom-coms with Prongs when he was pining really badly for Lily, so I know what the speeches are supposed to be like. I don't know how to say it… The point is, I like you, Marlene – as a person, not just as somebody who I like to –"

"Sirius," she said warningly, looking sideways at the waiter standing only a short distance away.

"Right. You know what I mean. I like you Marlene – a lot and I don't want you to think that you're just – I'm not using you, I don't want us to be casual like that. I know that it worked okay for us so far but I don't want it to be like that anymore – I'd like to be with you, hold your hand, kiss you, all the soppy, heart-warming stuff. I want to stay up all night with you, I want to take you to all my favourite places, I want to have a shot at being something more meaningful. If you want to, Marley, if you want to do that –"

She leaned forwards and kissed him like she never had done before, he pressed his mouth to hers and he knew that he didn't have to say anymore.


	3. Without The Epiphany

**A/N:** **How Jily get together – without the Epiphany of the Soul.**

* * *

SOME TIME AROUND OCTOBER

SIXTH YEAR

HOGWARTS

* * *

They were friends. Or had been.

The last few days had been a whirlwind of conflicting emotions: there was a very teeny, tiny minute part of her that felt butterflies and shudders whenever he entered a room, a humiliating, unbearable part of her that felt tingly all over and gave her the irresistible urge to sneak glances at him from across the classroom, a hidden, shameful part of herself that she denied until she was convinced that there was absolutely no way – _absolutely_ no way- she cared for James Potter in _that way_.

I mean, it wasn't that he was bad-looking exactly, he was fine. More than fine, some might even say handsome but that was definitely not her. No way. Not at all. It wasn't that he was stupid – no, he was exceptionally bright, and funny, and sweet when he wanted to be, and charming and perfect and gorgeous…

Oh who was she fooling?

Everyone else seemed to think that it was only a matter of time until they got together. She tried to hide the blush and the stutter that arose whenever someone said it, tried to repudiate it – what did they mean she was smiling? Can't anyone be happy nowadays without being head-over-heels, cupid-arrow, good-old-fashioned in love?

Besides, James was annoying. He bullies, Sev, she thought…but maybe he deserves it, a teeny, tiny voice whispers in her ear, he's not your friend anymore. He called you Mudblood. He thinks that you're scum, he thinks you're inferior, he's no better than Malfoy or Black or anyone of those blood racists. Does that give James the right to treat him that way? No. Yes. Maybe.

Why was she wasting her time worrying about this anyway? They'd kissed on the last day of the summer holidays, following a bet they'd made regarding his OWL results, and she'd screwed it up. She was too damn afraid to admit how she felt, too damn proud, too damn cowardly to just say that she liked him.

That kiss had felt wonderful; like nothing she'd ever known. It was soft and yet had set her heart ablaze. She'd forgotten about Bellatrix and Lucius and the people that called her names, tripped her up in the corridors, sneered at her, refused to touch her lest they become contaminated – she'd forgotten all those worries that had hung over her. He'd made her feel significant, he'd made her feel like she was worth giving a damn about and she'd bloody well gone and messed it all up.

And she called herself a Gryffindor.

What was she so afraid of?

She settled into an armchair in a hidden nook on the seventh floor and, drawing her knees into her chest, looked out of the window onto the frosty October morning. What was she afraid of? Perhaps she didn't want to confess to her true feelings because that meant being vulnerable. Vulnerability was something she tried to avoid at all costs. Being vulnerable meant that people could hurt you and, more often than not, people did. You had to protect yourself, hold your ground and never let them see that they got you. What if James laughed at her? What if he didn't feel the same way and this had all been some cruel joke to make fun of her? As unlikely as she told herself it was, the worry was still persistent.

Perhaps another part of her felt herself unworthy of his love. As many times as she sternly told herself that it did not matter, as many times as Mar and Al told her that it was stupid to think it mattered and as many times as Remus assured her it proved nothing – she was Muggle-born. She was a Mudblood. And he, James Potter, was a Pureblood.

He was aristocracy, practically. His blood was somehow, in a way certain Slytherins made perfectly clear, superior to her own. She had no right to sully his blood line, no right to deceive him – as if anyone could love her – a freak, as Tuney had often said. She didn't belong in the Muggle world, didn't belong here. She was weak, worthless, dirty, vulgar. James… James deserved someone better. He deserved someone who mattered, someone who was worthy. She would never belong in this world, in his world, she would never match up to real witches and wizards because she was filth, she was a mistake, she shouldn't exist. She wasn't pure and surely that's what he, James Potter, deserved?

He's better off without me, she thought.

She imagined the stares and the insults and the reputation he'd get if he was with someone like her. Would his parents disown him? Because some Wizarding parents were like that, weren't they? No, he could never turn his back on his family. That would be unfair. She would never ask him to do that.

It wasn't as though he liked her anymore, anyway. She'd messed everything up.

Despite this, sometimes when she felt lonely or when she was recovering and healing bruises from run-ins with Slytherins, she liked to think about what could have been. In a different world, one where she was as strong as she tried to be and a brave as she wished she were, she'd go up to him and tell him how she felt. She'd kiss him again, just one more time and if he didn't like her anymore then hell, at least she tried but if he did…

She sighed.

She and James had become rather hostile to one another, calling each other names, keeping up the façade of hating each other in order to cover up their own emotional conflict. James, for the first time, had begun to doubt himself. He was so sure that he'd finally got through to her, so certain that finally she'd come around and that she liked him and then she'd brushed him off, told him she wasn't interested, that the kiss meant nothing.

That had stung.

James wasn't used to that. He and Lily were playful with their insults, they made each other laugh, their conversation and heated exchanges verged on outrageously flirtatious but she'd rejected him, again, after he'd thought he'd made progress.

Maybe he'd been too intense? Maybe he was too eager and that had scared her off. She was a very private person, he'd noticed. He'd also noticed that there were certain things that made her angry, certain things that made her passionate, things that made her notice him and talk to him and finally give him attention. She was touchy about her sister, about Severus and also about her blood status – though he hadn't provoked her on that score. That felt wrong.

He'd tried to forget all about her but she just seemed to be everywhere he went, hanging out with Remus by the grass, helping Peter with his homework in the library, reading in the Common Room, in all of his classes, everywhere he went.

There was simply no escaping her yet she disappeared for hours at a time. He didn't know where she went, only that sometimes she'd arrive late to lesson with a healing cut on her arm, she'd limp into the Common Room looking slightly worn down and she always seemed tired and jumpy and on edge.

He told himself he didn't care. It didn't happen _that_ often and everyone got into scraps and duels now and again. That was the norm.

So he moved on the way he'd thought best – he got a girlfriend. She was pretty, Pureblood and quite intelligent really, there just seemed to be something missing. In the end, he'd worked it out – she wasn't Lily. No one could ever be Lily. As stupid and horrible and pathetic as she was, Lily was kind of dazzling.

He'd stopped going out of his way to give her a hard time and she seemed to have backed down, too. Sirius and Remus had gotten sick of their quarrelling, sick of having to try and calm the waters. He imagined they'd had a similar talk with Lily because she hadn't insulted him once in the past week.

James was walking the corridors of the seventh floor after having broken up with his kind-of girlfriend. He was thinking and fuming and hadn't expected to run into a certain ginger with spectacular green eyes that had been on his mind for what felt like forever.

She was alone, he noted, and she looked sad. She wasn't crying, she was just sort of hunched in her chair, facing away from his approaching form. Hesitant to advance, but knowing it was probably too late to turn back now without the situation becoming very awkward very quickly, he cleared his throat.

Her back straightened up immediately and her shoulders squared. She looked over her shoulder quickly and then snapped her head forward again.

"Potter," she said stiffly.

"Evans."

"What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I wanted some peace and quiet," she shrugged, turning to face him.

"And instead you got me," he joked, leaning against the wall.

She smiled, looking down at her feet. Silence settled. It had been an emotionally turbulent past few weeks.

"How have you been?" she asked him at last.

"Well, um – yeah, I've been well," he cleared his throat. "How – how have you been?"

"I've been better," she replied honestly.

He caught sight of a white scar on her neck and winced. It wasn't an old scar.

"How's Madeline?" she asked.

"We broke up," he said distractedly.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"That makes one of us."

"Did you not…?" she trailed off as though uncertain how to proceed.

"Lily," she jumped at the sound of her given name, "I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay…" she gave him her full attention then and he went to run his hand through his hair, but stopped mid-air and lowered his arms to his side instead.

"I wanted to apologise."

She frowned in confusion.

"For what?"

"For being a dick. I shouldn't have snapped at you and I know that you're – I know that those Slytherins do stuff and it's – it's shitty and I'm sorry –"

"I haven't exactly been an angel, James." She made no acknowledgement of his last comment.

"Well –"

"I started it, anyway, I shouldn't have been so bitchy about the kiss last summer, that was… it – I'm sorry, James, I never meant –"

"No, no, I should have just taken the hint and I didn't. So I'm sorry for that. I'll back off, okay? Can we at least be friends?"

She felt her heart sink right into her shoes. This was not how she'd planned this conversation to go. For weeks she'd been trying to work up the courage to just tell him – tell him how she felt, damn the consequences and see what happened.

"Sure," she said weakly, "friends."

 _Maybe it's for the best_ , she thought as she watched him walk away, his receding figure getting smaller and smaller until it had vanished all together.

* * *

Being James' friend proved to be a lot more difficult than she'd anticipated.

Hanging out in Hogsmeade on a Saturday afternoon with the Marauders, Mar, Al and James' girlfriend was _extremely_ exasperating and gruelling. Having to endure the hand-holding, the kissing, the playful teasing and just the general _couple-ness_ of the two was infuriating.

This wasn't because she liked James (well obviously she _liked_ him, just not like that. They're only friends, nothing else, honestly, can't a woman be complete without a man?). No, she told herself it was because the couple were unnaturally nauseating and mawkish.

This girl – Julianne – was aggravating to the point of her actually needing to leave the room. The amount of simpering and giggling she did, the way she hung on his arm, the way she agreed with everything he said – even when he was downright wrong- and the annoying habit she had of falling into other people's (weirdly, always of the male sex) laps was unbelievably pestiferous. She didn't seem to have an ounce of sense in her head, how James, as intelligent as she knew he was, could stand her was a mystery.

Remus didn't care for her either, but he wasn't quite so passionate as Lily was when he voiced this opinion. The minute James and Julianne had left, Lily would sigh and grumble and mutter and the rest of the company would smile into their hands and exchange private looks.

On this particular occasion, James and Julianne had headed back to the castle early. It was a pleasantly sunny day and they were all sitting on the grass, lazing around in the sun. Homework had been briefly forgotten, as had the recent attacks in the _Prophet_.

"How long have they been together now?" Peter asked, raising a hand to shade his eyes as he watched the couple walk into the distance.

"About two weeks," Sirius replied without looking up. He was sprawled out on the grass, taking up as much space as was possible.

"Feels like an eternity," Lily muttered, closing her book.

"What have you got against Julianne? I think she's nice," Sirius asked, grinning, knowing full well he'd get a rise. He wasn't disappointed.

Lily scoffed. "Yeah, if by nice you mean completely vacuous! I haven't heard her say a single sensible thing in the whole two weeks her company has been inflicted on me. Does she talk about anything other than celebrities and how fabulous her Jamesy-waymsy is?"

Remus spluttered, choking on the tea he'd brought out in a flask.

"She does know her whole life doesn't revolve around James, right?"

"Are you sure you know that?" Sirius asked.

"I beg your pardon."

"For someone who spends an awful lot of time criticising how obsessed Julianne is of her boyfriend; you talk about James a hell of a lot."

"I don't care for the insinuation, Sirius. We're friends and that's that," she could feel her face turning red, dammit.

"Lily, honey," Mar, sat up, leaning on her hands, "everyone knows."

"I don't follow you," Lily narrowed her eyes.

"Is it really Julianne that bothers you? Or is it the fact that she's James' girlfriend?"

"I don't fancy James Potter!" she snapped.

"So you say at least, what? Five, ten times a day?"

"Because it's true."

"Lily," Mar sighed, "you need to just accept your feelings for what they are. Think about it, are you going to watch him and Julianne make gooey-eyes at each other and be miserable for the rest of your life, or are you going to be a Gryffindor about it and confront him?"

Lily scowled, turning away.

"James…" she trailed off, sighing as she ran her hands through her hair. "He doesn't think about me like that anymore."

"Sure he does," Marlene countered.

"No, he doesn't. He suggested that we should be friends and like an idiot, I agreed. I don't want to ruin it all by bringing my inconvenient feelings into this. I'd rather us be friends than nothing at all."

"Just talk to him!" Alice said.

"I don't know how."

"I know James," Sirius said, "and all you have to do is say the words and he'll come running."

"I don't want to break him and Julianne up if he's happy –"

"I don't care if he's happy or not, for all of our sakes please break them up."

"I thought you said Julianne was nice."

"To look at, maybe. I mean have you seen her rack –"

Lily threw tufts of grass at him and he smirked.

* * *

Lily found James sat on one of the sofas in the Common Room. She'd just finished a study session in the library and was ready to get changed into her pyjamas and call it a night… but she really wanted to talk to him. Collecting all the bravery she could, she made her way over to him.

She sat down beside him and let her bag drop on the floor – happy to be finally free of the extra weight.

"Hey."

"Hey," he said, closing his textbook.

"Are you alright?"

"I broke up with Julianne."

Lily tried to hide her delight and she felt herself become a little bolder at this revelation.

"Oh. That's a shame."

He squinted at her, "Not really."

"Are you excited about your match?"

"I guess so; we've still got a week but Alix* is pushing us really hard."

"Can I talk to you James?"

"Uh, sure, Lily. You can talk to me about anything."

"This is probably going to make you uncomfortable and it may very well ruin our friendship but here it is anyway – I like you James, and not as a friend. I should never have lied about that kiss last summer, it made me feel amazing and I was afraid and stupid but… I can't deny it any longer. I can't bear it anymore. I know I messed everything up for us –"

"You didn't –"

"I did," she said firmly. "I shouldn't have lied. You deserve someone better than me, a real witch but –"

"You are a real witch."

"You know what I mean. I'm not like you, I'm Muggle-born and –"

"And nothing."

"What about your family –"

"They're not going to disown me, Lily. I have a confession to make – I lied about being over you. I'm still crazy about you so if you mean what I think you mean –"

"I want to give us a shot."

"Me too," he said, turning towards her, and she felt the familiar quiver in her insides, threatening to brim over the top with nervous energy.

"Then here goes everything," she murmured as she leaned in, his arms wrapping around her, his body pressed lightly against her own, she felt a surge of courage as she kissed him and he kissed her.

It was better than the kiss she had remembered. Her fingers went to his hair and she wound the unruly waves she'd often scorned around them.

 _This is how it begins_ , she thought, and begin it did.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hello. The Quidditch Captain James references is Astrix A. Astrix's surname begins 'Alix' so I ran with that. Anyway, Astrix is of unknown gender or age but was definitely a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain at some point in time.**

 **Hope you enjoyed, have a lovely day!**


	4. It Was A Beautiful Morning

**A/N: Hello! Sixth year nonsense in which Lily is absolutely not predictable. Jily because I love them. **

* * *

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MORNING

* * *

It was a beautiful morning – quite the loveliest they'd had all year, and it was only May, if you could believe it. A wonderful way to start the weekend.

Alice, Marlene and Lily were sat by the lake, dipping their toes into the waters and generally relaxing in the warm sunshine. Forget-me-nots, daffodils, bluebells and yellow primroses adorned the grass. The birds were twittering, it was idyllic.

"… and then he held my hand, it was _so_ romantic especially since we haven't really had time to be a couple, it's always so physical or he treats me like he doesn't even _know_ me, which is so much worse. But he really is a sweetie."

"Ugh," Marlene groaned, tossing her magazine aside, "no one wants to hear about Amos!"

"We all have to hear about all _your_ boyfriends, or whatever you call them," Alice sniffed. "You don't hear us complaining."

"Yes, I do, actually. You complain about it all the time."

"Only because you brag about it so much!"

"I do _not_ brag!"

"You do too!"

"I do not. You're just jealous because your only experience is with that dunce Diggory."

"He is not a dunce."

"Oh, I'm sorry, he's just intellectually impaired. Is that we have to say now?"

"Because all your boyfriends are _so_ smart. What about that Ravenclaw that couldn't even work out how to take your top off?"

"I have variety," Marlene dismissed, rolling over and turning the page of a different magazine. "I don't need them to be geniuses, just smart enough to understand what I'm saying."

"Amos does understand what I'm saying."

"He's using you."

"No he's not."

"He's only nice to you when it suits him, he ignores you in public, he treats you like rubbish most of the time and he's cruel. I'd call that using you."

"Maybe I don't care."

"Maybe you should."

"Cameron's good-looking," Lily interrupted them, having had enough of their bickering.

All heads turned to the boy Lily was referring to, he had his top off and was playing some kind of game with a few of his friends.

"That he is," Marlene said, eyes returning back to her magazine. "He's a good kisser, too."

"Have you kissed every guy in Hufflepuff?"

"No," Marlene said, amused. "Why? Do you think I should try?"

"You can't be too far off the target," Lily joked.

"Maybe not. What do you think, Al?"

"Of Cameron?" Alice pulled a face.

"You don't think he's hot?"

"Well he's attractive… but he's so polite and shy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked.

"You need someone assertive, Lil. He's just… he doesn't hold his ground, ever. He never makes decisions, trust me, I'm in his Advanced Herbology class and he can't ever decide between this thing or that."

"I think I'm assertive enough for the both of us."

Alice snorted. "You'd get bored, Lily."

"Ooo, look who's coming this way," Marlene said, looking up from her magazine.

"Oh Merlin," Lily groaned, rolling onto her other side so she wasn't facing the approaching Marauders.

"Alright, Evans?" came a familiar voice.

"And I was having such a nice morning," Lily muttered.

"I'm wounded," James grinned, running his hand through his hair.

"Do you think you could move slightly to the left?" she asked him. "You're blocking my light."

"This alright?" he asked, inching to the left.

"Bit more."

He tripped and fell into the lake, Lily starting laughing. James stumbled to his feet, looking slightly abashed.

"Glad I've made your day, Evans."

She was still laughing at him, so he used his wand to squirt a jet of ice-cold water in her face. She squealed, before jumping to her feet, chasing after him, a water fight between them in full-swing.

Marlene and Alice watched the two of them as they ran after one another, tripping and rolling around on the grass.

"Do you think they know they're in love?" Alice asked.

"Not a chance," Marlene replied, watching the two somewhat wistfully.

"Oi, Evans!" Sirius hollered at her. "Stop flirting with James for a second and help me with this essay that was due yesterday."

Lily came over eventually, hair dripping wet and a silly smile on her face. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not doing your homework for you, Sirius."

"I don't want you to, I want you to help me."

"With you, it tends to mean the same thing."

James had trailed over by then, looking similarly happy.

"Look at the two of you," Sirius tutted. "Absolutely outrageous."

"What are you talking about?" James asked.

"Well," Marlene cut in, "before we were so rudely interrupted, we were admiring Cameron Kirkby."

"Kirkby?" Remus raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Lily thinks he's hot."

"Well he is," she said.

"He's not _that_ good-looking," James said. "Besides he's got the spine of a leaf –"

"Ah yes, as I have been told, he's not very assertive. Why you all think I need a pushy boyfriend is beyond me."

"Not pushy, just decisive."

"I don't think decisiveness is exactly a deal-breaker," Lily said, sitting back down on the grass beside Marlene.

"You try spending a day with him, Evans, and I guarantee you'll get bored," Sirius snorted.

"Why?"

"Because all he'll do all day is ask you what _you_ want to do, how can he make _you_ happy –"

"I don't see why that's bad. What's wrong with a guy that wants to please somebody else?"

" _Nothing_ , it's just… Have you ever spoken to him?"

"If I spent the day with him, it would not be spent talking. That would be a waste," Lily sighed, Marlene started giggling.

James flushed very red.

"What do you think James?" Marlene asked, rather cruelly.

"I don't think you should date him."

"Why not?"

"Because… because…." James was getting more and more flustered by the minute.

"Leave the poor man be, Marlene. I don't think Evans is actually planning on dating Cameron –"

"I didn't know you could read minds, Sirius. Is this a new talent?" Lily asked.

"Only your mind, my dear, being the predictable little vixen you are."

"Predictable?" Lily repeated, standing up.

"Yeah. Predictable," Sirius grinned.

"Oh yeah? How am I predictable?"

"In every way."

"Give me an example."

"You like Cameron, right? But I know you won't kiss him, because you don't have the guts for that –"

"Sirius, if you really think I'm going to fall for that, you're even stupider than I thought."

"Damn it, too smart for me Evans. I knew you'd never do it."

"If I wanted to kiss him, I would."

"So why don't you?"

"Maybe I will."

"Go on then."

She made to walk away before turning around and kissing James on the lips. She drew away, leaving James looking slightly stunned.

"Did you predict that?"

She walked away triumphantly, Marlene and Alice following her, the sound of their giggling echoing against the stone.

"What the fuck just happened?"

"She kissed you. Lily fucking Evans kissed you, James Potter, just now."

"Just checking I wasn't imagining it."


	5. Why Do We Even Bother With Perfume?

**A/N:** **Just a little something from fourth year. Girls dorm. Gryffindor. Hogwarts. (I don't know what I was thinking - I just wrote it.)**

* * *

WHY DO WE EVEN BOTHER WITH PERFUME?

* * *

"Why do we even bother with perfume?" Alice asked, sniffing at the _Witch Weekly_ advert for a new perfume, beguiling misty smoke curling around her fingers.

"To smell nice?" Lily offered, hunched over some knitting needles.

"Because it's sexy," Marlene said, peering over Alice's shoulder. "I mean look at her – the message is kind of clear, wear our scent and you'll have a physically impossible figure, gorgeous hair and guys all over you."

"Bloody lies."

"It sells," Lily shrugged. "And that's all they really care about. They don't care if their adverts make women hate their bodies, encourage damaging stereotypes –"

"Alright, alright, Lily, we all know. Adverts are capitalist, sexist, heteronormative shit, you've said it a thousand times," Marlene rolled her eyes.

"But honestly, you spray perfume and where does it go? All around into the air and definitely not on your body. Then you have men's perfumes and aftershaves which last bloody _ages_. We're being sold short."

"Well we already knew that," Lily muttered.

"Still unfair."

"Shit! I dropped a stitch," Lily lamented, holding up her colourful creation.

"What even is that horror?"

"It's a scarf, thank you very much."

"And your aim is to use every colour under the sun?"

"I wanted to make something for Remus."

"Why?"

"Because it's bloody freezing and he's not wearing so much as a _hat_ , let alone a scarf and gloves."

"He probably can't afford it," Alice said, flicking the page from the offending perfume advert.

"Probably not," Lily sighed. "It's so frustrating, isn't it?"

"What is?" Marlene asked.

"That guys like Potter and Malfoy and Longbottom – hell, even Black, are absolutely _loaded_. They've got more money than sense. They could probably buy my home town – twice over, maybe even ten times over and then you have guys like Remus who hardly have anything. It's so damn unfair."

"That's the way the world works, Lil."

"I don't like the way it works," Lily huffed.

"Nor do I," Alice said, tossing _Witch Weekly_ aside. "We should do something about it."

"Like what?"

"We'll start a revolution," Alice said, grinning.

"A revolution?" Lily repeated doubtfully. "You want to start a revolution?"

"There's going to be a war anyway, right? You heard Dumbledore – we're all going to have to fight anyway. When it's all over, we can start again. We'll make things fair. Isn't that what Dumbledore is always going on about? Making the world fair for everybody?"

"To do that we'd have to win," Marlene pointed out.

"Well obviously," Alice snorted.

"We'd have to do more than win. I just… I don't think years of hatred and injustice can be wiped away with just a _war_."

"What if it can?"

"In the Muggle world, there was a huge World War in 1912 and when it ended everybody said it would never happen again because it was too awful – and then in 1939, it happened again. It repeats, in history, I mean. People say the hatred's gone after a war, because of what they all suffered, but it stays –"

"The world will never be perfect, but we've got to try and make it better, haven't we?"

"I can't see people like Malfoy ever reforming," Lily said flatly.

"Then we destroy them."

"I'm not going to _kill_ Malfoy!" Lily exclaimed, horrified.

"Why not? He's an absolute prick."

"That doesn't mean – you can't just – murder is always wrong!"

"Then what do we do with them? The people that refuse to change?"

"We – we educate and encourage but we don't force."

"Yeah, because education and encouragement has _such_ an impact."

"You can't force people to think a certain way –"

"You can't let people treat other people like that, look down on other people, _discriminate_."

"I thought you wanted justice – a system that's _fair_. What you're talking about sounds like a dictatorship."

"We'd all be better off for it, though."

"But without our freedom! We deserve the right to think freely and be what we want and grow and – and I think having freedom of expression and recognition of equal human rights is far more important than forcing people to think things they don't believe."

"You're just a big softie, aren't you Lil?"

"I just want equal treatment. I don't want people to be disadvantaged because of things they can't change."

"I don't want that either – I just think if something needs to change, you have to make it change. No matter the cost."

"We're too young for a war."

"The Death Eaters don't think so," Marlene said. "You've heard your old buddy Snape in Slytherin."

"Sev –"

" _Sev_ is a Death Eater in training. He's best mates with Mulciber, what do you expect goes on behind closed doors?"

"Sev would never –"

"Snape is not like you! He's the kind of person who kicks bunny rabbits because they look too cute, the kind that uses people for his own benefit, the kind that doesn't give a damn about anyone but themselves."

"You're wrong," Lily said, flushing. "Sev's not like that at all. Why are you so against him?"

"He's up to no good and he'll only end up hurting you in the end, Lily. Sorry, but that's the truth."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Then we'll talk about something else," Alice reached for the magazine. "How about Mar's new boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Then what is he?"

"His name is Cal and he's got very nice manners."

"Do we get to meet him?"

"You probably have met him. Brown hair, grey eyes, kind of short."

"That's so specific," Lily sighed.

"Did you break up with him?"

"No!"

"So you're together?"

"What? No. There was never anything to begin with so we can't have broken up."

"Okay, okay, wow. Defensive much?"

"How about Lily's secret admirer?"

"Oooh, do tell all," Alice grinned.

"Mar!" Lily swatted her with a pillow.

"His name is Timothy and he sits next to her in Charms," Mar started giggling as Lily went very red.

"He's not my secret admirer!"

"She's been getting notes –"

"Mar, I swear if you don't shut up I will not hesitate in ramming this pillow down your throat."

"In her charms text book –"

"Seriously, don't make me do it."

"And he wrote her a poem!"

"Why are you even assuming it's a he?" Lily frowned, dropping her pillow.

"Because Timothy is a he."

"But the notes aren't from Timothy!"

" _Oh_ , so you think they're from someone else?"

"They're probably from you!"

Mar started collapsing with fitful laughter at that point, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Oh Lil," she sighed.

"What's this Timothy like anyway?"

"Shy, I guess. Very smart, he likes art and poetry and he's into vintage cars –"

"Cars?"

"He's a Half-Blood," she said impatiently.

"Is he good-looking?"

"Why does that matter?" Lily asked, exasperated.

"Wow, Lil, you're really snappy today."

"I know. It's stress. Sorry."

"No, don't worry about it. Do you like Timothy? As a friend?"

"As a friend," she nodded. "Not as anything else. That would be too weird."

"Why?"

"Well first of all we're purely platonic and anything else would just be… disgusting and weird and like kissing your sister or something –"

"Ew!"

"Exactly. Also, he's really not into me. We talked about this guy he has a crush on yesterday. They're in the concert band together and they both really like fish – isn't that strange? You don't often meet fish enthusiasts and they're been talking for _weeks_ so I was saying how he should just talk about how he feels but he thinks that might be awkward because –"

"So he's gay?"

"He doesn't know."

"Oh. Who's he got a crush on?"

"I promised I wouldn't say."

"Damn. Okay, we need to find out who's sending you those love letters."

"They're hardly love letters," Lily snorted.

"None of us ever get sent notes."

"Be happy you don't. The ones I get are so creepy, like 'I saw you drink some peppermint tea today and it reminded me of how delightfully fresh you are'."

"That is creepy."

"It has to be a joke."

"Hmmm, maybe."

"I wouldn't rule out secret admirer just yet, though," Marlene smiled.


	6. As Sweet As Marmalade

**A/N:** **Hello! This is written for ElsaElphieGinny who wanted to see more of the creepy notes Lily receives (first mentioned in the previous installment). Prepare for a lot of cheesiness and creepiness. I can't take credit for all of the lines used, but most (the bad ones) are my own invention.**

 **Same setting as last time, apologies for the rushed ending.**

* * *

 _AS SWEET AS MARMALADE_

* * *

"Are you sure?" James asked doubtfully, as he penned a note on a ripped piece of parchment.

" _Yes_. Every girl likes being sent secret notes – it's romantic."

"Hmm," James said, his uncertainty as to whether this really was a good idea finally surfacing.

"I'll help you write them," Peter piped up.

"And Remus'll get them to her."

"I will do no such thing," Remus grouched, putting his book down and joining them at a table in the Library.

"Why not?"

"Because it's creepy! It's intrusive, it will only make her feel uncomfortable –"

"Maybe uncomfortable at first," Sirius amended, "but after that, she'll be enraptured."

"Even if that were the case – and it won't be -what's the use? She won't know who they're from and –"

"Stop being such a stick in the mud," Sirius said cheerfully.

"It won't work," Remus said, exasperated.

"It might work better than the many other things we've tried – spontaneous serenading, random gifts of flowers and chocolates, poems on toast –"

"Send the bloody notes if you have to, but I'll have no part in it!"

" _Fine_ then. We'll get along just fine without you," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You're really sure this is a good idea?" James asked again.

"Yes! Now, what have you written? 'I get so bored in History of Magic, but your hair brightens up my afternoon.' Hmmm, not bad but it could be better."

"What would you write?"

"Something like 'your hair sets my blood on fire with how beautiful it is'."

Peter sniggered.

"Something funny, Pete?" Sirius demanded.

"Just you," Peter replied, smirking. "I think the fiery thing works but the blood and the beautiful part…"

"Girls like being called beautiful," Sirius sniffed.

"Yeah, but this is already clichéd, why add the beautiful part in? We need to be out of the box."

"I think you have a point there, Peter," James said thoughtfully.

"Okay," Sirius said, taking the quill from James. "How about 'unlike other girls, you don't need whisky to be fiery'."

James snorted but didn't object to it.

"This is going to be so cheesy, isn't it?"

"Nothing wrong with a bit of cheese, my friend, nothing wrong at all."

* * *

"What's that, Lily?" Marlene pointed at a flying memo fluttering about Lily's chair.

Lily turned around and frowned at it, picking it out of the air gingerly in case it exploded or something. She read it once, twice and then frowned more.

"What's it say?"

"Read it for yourself."

"'You don't need whisky to be fiery'? What on earth?"

Lily looked slightly amused. "It would seem someone's decided to play a practical joke on me."

"Either that or someone's got a crush on you."

"And they can't say that to my face?"

"Maybe you're too fiery, Lily," Marlene started giggling.

"Don't laugh at me!" Lily scowled.

"Sorry Lils, but it is hilarious."

* * *

Lily looked down in dismay.

It had been a week since the first note and every morning, one of the blasted things would appear with lines like:

 _I was eating marmalade yesterday and it reminded of how deliciously sweet you are._

 _Like a snitch, I think you're a catch._

 _Girl, you're worth more than a million galleons._

 _I would battle the Giant Squid just to be in your company._

 _Your smile's like 'expelliarmus' – simple yet disarming._

 _The sorting hat says I belong with you._

And now, the most recent one, 'Are you using a confudus charm every time I see you, or are you just naturally this mind blowing?'

Lily was torn between mortification that anyone would read them and amusement because they were so awful. Marlene found the whole thing hysterically entertaining and was sworn to secrecy. That didn't stop her from all the teasing she did.

Lily was also half annoyed as she couldn't catch whoever it was in the act. She _still_ didn't know who was sending the bloody notes, though she had an inkling.

Her inkling was confirmed as she was reading in the library. It was quite late and the library was for the most part, deserted. All she could hear was the poorly muffled whispering and giggling coming from the other side of the bookshelf.

She was just about to go over there and give them a piece of her mind for being so distracting when she heard something that froze her in her tracks.

"The notes have got to stop." That was Remus' voice.

"Aw, come on, Remus. Don't be a killjoy."

"I'm serious! This hasn't done anything to warm Lily's heart towards James at all – partly because she doesn't even know who they're from! Besides, if she did, she'd probably hex your balls off."

"Nah, she wouldn't."

"We'll do one more," James said. "I'm quite proud of this one – 'Even when we're not in Flitwick's lesson, you're still charming'."

"Then you'll stop?"

"No, we won't," Sirius cut in. "What's it got to do with you anyway?"

"She's my friend and she doesn't like –"

"Have you asked her? No? Then I hardly think you're informed enough to give such a statement."

"This will only end in tears," Remus huffed.

Lily gathered up her books and left the library, head spinning.

 _Alright, Romeo,_ she thought, _two can play at that game_.

* * *

When the note arrived the next morning, she caught it from the air and scrawled on the back of it with her quill.

 _Did you cast episkey? Because you'll have to when I break your nose. Lily xx_

Unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect and seemed only to encourage the notes which quickly got more and more ridiculous and raunchy. This started a written war between the pair who conversed more on parchment than they ever had done in speech.

He would send one, she would jokingly threaten him with some fate of other back and sometimes, she'd even join in with pick-up lines of her own and so started the most roundabout way of flirting Sirius had ever seen. It seemed to work, however, as the two were married only a few years later.

The notes became a tale of legend between friends – Lily kept every single one and would bring them out sometimes at get-togethers.


End file.
